Discussing Gerard Houllier's presence at Old Trafford for Saturday's FA Cup victory over Arsenal, Ferguson said: "Gerard has a lot of affection for Lyon," he said. "Maybe he has been speaking to them about us because he was at our last game on Saturday.

"Benzema was a local boy and both strikers are in the France team, which tells you how good they are. They have good talent but we've known about them for quite a while now."